


First Night

by TDKeh16



Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompts [44]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Cornt, First Dates, M/M, Married Life, Origin Story, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:26:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23281711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TDKeh16/pseuds/TDKeh16
Summary: Kent and Corey reflect on the night they first got together.
Relationships: Kent "Parse" Parson/Corey Henderson, Kent "Parse" Parson/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Tumblr Fics and Prompts [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/541717
Comments: 11
Kudos: 67





	First Night

**Author's Note:**

> The world is chaos, have some fluffy garbage lol

"Hey," Kent began one quiet summer afternoon. "How much do you remember about our first night together?"

Corey looked up from his book. "I remember a lot more than you, probably."

Kent scoffed. "I wasn't that drunk compared to you."

"No, we were pretty equally hammered, but..." Corey shrugged his shoulders. "I think I was more aware of everything. Do you have any idea how excited I was to be going for drinks with you one-on-one?"

"Pfft! You didn't really give me a choice with that one. You literally jumped into the cab before it drove off with me alone."

"I prefer to think I 'leapt at the opportunity' to spend some quality time with my captain." Corey grinned.

"That's one way of putting it." Kent turned on the couch to face Corey, extending a leg to gently prod him with his foot. "But tell me -- What was going through your mind that night? I'm curious."

"Finally! After all these years' you're taking an interest in my mind and not just my body." Corey snickered when Kent's prodding started more closely resembling kicks.

" _Henny_..." Kent whined.

Corey gave him a curious look. "You haven't called me that in forever."

"I'm trying to bring you back to an earlier time when you were just my annoying teammate and not my annoying husband."

Corey slipped a bookmark between the pages of his book and set it down on the coffee table. "What a struggle. I can't even _imagine_ what it would be like to have an annoying husband." He caught Kent's foot and pulled it into his lap, holding it still. 

"Why all the dodging and secrecy? Am I going to have to beg?"

"Well, I do like making you beg... but no, we can save that for later tonight," Corey said with a wink.

"Well?" Kent inched up closer on the couch and put his other foot in Corey's lap.

"I remember you kept trying to turn down that valentine's video. You looked really sad, but you plastered on your media smile for the cameras and powered through it with some charming jokes. Then the second they went away you had this-- You leaned over to tie your shoes and let out this little sigh. It was like you let the mask slip a bit too far for a split second and it was heartbreaking."

"Hah, really?"

"I was already practically head over heels for you by then, of course I would feel bad for you when you were so obviously hurting."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Obvious to me, at least."

Kent chuckled and leaned in to gently ruffle Corey's hair. "Stalker. Was that why you were loitering outside my hotel room that night?"

"I figured it was a good opportunity to spend some time together, maybe get your mind off of whatever was bothering you."

"How did you know I was heading out to drink?"

"I didn't. I was going to invite you to my room to watch a movie."

Kent cackled. "Oh god! Were you hoping I'd get all in the mood for romance and start making out with you out of desperation? Which movie was it? Please tell me it was fucking 'Titanic' or 'the Notebook' or some shit."

"It was 'Breakfast with Scot,' actually."

"WHAT? No! That's so much worse!" Kent continued to laugh. "Just a couple of bros, lying together on the bed in a darkened hotel room, watching a movie about a closeted hockey player learning to accept himself in the hyper-masculine sports world. Wow. Were you planning to suck my dick before or after the end credits?"

Corey chuckled. "It's a sweet movie. It's _not_ a dramatic love story, so I figured it wouldn't dredge up any current heartbreak you were experiencing. And depending on how you reacted to watching a movie about gay people in the hockey world..."

"Were you going to come out to me either way?"

"Well, not if you reacted badly to the movie, but I thought if we had a good convo then maybe I could broach the subject-- for me. I didn't know about you until we got drunk."

"What did you think when you caught me sneaking out of my room?" Kent asked.

"Embarrassed for a second, then distracted because you were so fucking hot, then embarrassed again because I made some gross bro joke about pussy, which--" Corey shuddered. "Can I just say for a second how relieved I am to finally drop that fucking act? Pretending to be some douchey straight bro all the time was fucking exhausting."

"Plus Lacey would have kicked your ass if she ever heard you say that word."

"Right?" 

Kent sighed softly. "Yeah, I gotta admit that as rough as the coming out process was, it is a little nicer now. No pressure to participate in it, and the general toxicity level has decreased a lot. I wish you were still around to see it."

"I'm not _dead_ , Sparky. Jesus!" Corey laughed.

"I just meant that you're the reason this attitude shift started, and it sucks that you're not in the locker room to experience it first hand."

"Maybe I should get a media job. I could interview you after every game. I can picture it now... You, shirtless in the locker room with your sexy damp hair. Me, asking the hard-hitting questions like 'what do you have to say to the fans across the country who are insanely jealous of the fact that I'm going to fuck you stupid later?' Then you would say--"

Kent clamped a hand over Corey's mouth and laughed. "You're stupid enough for the both of us, fucking hell." 

"Sounds about right." Corey grinned. "Okay, circling back to your original question. Quit distracting me, Sparky. Fuck."

"Ohhh my god. I'm sorry I ever asked!" 

Corey laughed. "I was really nervous that night, you know? You got into the cab and my hands were literally shaking, but I got this surge of adrenaline and was just like 'fuck it' and hopped in on the other side. I thought you might punch me."

"The thought came to mind," Kent admitted. "I was too busy panicking about the fact that the cab was about to drive me to a gay bar with my supposedly straight teammate in tow."

"I would have asked you to dance."

"I know that _now_." Kent chuckled. "But in the moment..."

"Yeah."

"I'm really glad you followed me into that cab."

"Best decision of my life." Corey leaned in for a kiss and Kent closed the rest of the distance. "But back to that night -- you were being _such_ a grumpy prick."

Kent snorted a laugh and buried his face against the back cushion of the couch. "I know. I was such a paranoid mess."

"I get it though. Like, looking back at the whole down-low thing you were going for, to have a guy you were only casually friends with tag along and cock-block your rare chance to get laid. To you, I was just some devastatingly handsome straight bro..." Corey sighed dramatically.

Kent snickered again.

"Hey, you're not allowed to laugh at that part."

"How did I ever get the reputation for being the vain one when you go around saying shit like that?"

"Like what? The truth?" Corey winked when Kent looked up at him, earning a groan in response. "You know, looking back on everything? I was a fucking idiot to not realize that the guy you were talking about was Zimmermann."

"To be fair, I didnt say I was talking about a guy."

"You did though! Sparky, we've been over this. You were playing the pronoun game the entire time you were talking about how you went to visit the person in college and they were with another guy, yada yada yada... but then you slipped up and said something about how you thought **_he_** would always need you, and... I think I legit stopped breathing when I heard that."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Those two little letters changed the game for me. But like, it's so _obvious_ you were talking about Zimmermann. Who the fuck else did you have a complicated history with who was still in school? _And_ I knew you went to visit his school a couple months before. It was all over social media and you were in such a bad mood the next morning that everyone thought you had a brutal hangover." The corner of Corey's mouth twitched like he was holding back a laugh. "But it turns out it wasn't your _head_ that was hurting, it--"

"Don't--"

"--it was your _heart!_ "

Kent groaned again. "You're the worst."

"I know."

"Want to know what really sticks out for me that night?"

"That I was frustratingly clingy?" Corey suggested.

"No," Kent said as he reached over to grab Corey's hand. "I think about how good it felt to finally be able to talk about what had happened with Jack -- even if I wasn't telling you it was about Jack specifically. You were the first person who..." Kent trailed off with a shake of his head. "Like, Brezzy would check in every now and then when he could tell I was in a bad mood, but I'd always brush him off and he had a family to get home to so he wouldn't push it too much. 

"But that tactic didnt work with you. I kept saying I didn't want to talk about it, but fuck, I really _needed_ to. And you... saw that somehow. How?"

Corey smiled and looked down at their hands. "I think you're giving me too much credit there, Sparky. I was probably just hoping we'd get drunk enough to make out a little."

"No."

" _No?_ " Corey repeated with a surprised laugh.

"I know you better than that. Time and time again you've found some way to dig your way under every wall I've tried to put up. I don't see it happening at the time and then bam! There you are. You're-- You just-- ugh!" Kent groaned with frustration as his emotions got the best of him and he struggled to find the words.

"I think you're getting me confused with voles. Or gophers. Some burrowing animal that destroys gardens."

"There! That right there! To the rescue with some stupid joke when I'm getting too in my own head to get the words out. How do you do that?"

"It's not some secret power, Ken. Anyone who knows you knows that your first instinct is to keep your emotions at arms-distance. I just wanted to show you that people actually care about you, even when you're not perfect. It wasn't healthy keeping everything bottled up all the time. Not sustainable. I cared about you and wanted to help... and luckily, I'm really fucking stubborn."

Kent chuckled. "True." He squeezed Corey's hand. "I don't remember a lot else about that night. You kept kicking my foot at one point."

Corey laughed. "I was trying to play footsie with you, you oblivious dick!"

"What?"

"And then you fucking kicked me and were like 'what the hell is wrong with your foot, bro? Can't keep still?' I was flabbergasted."

Kent raised an eyebrow. "Flabbergasted, huh?"

" ** _Flabbergasted!_** "

Kent laughed and rested his head back against the couch. "I wish I could remember more real details of that night. It's there, but it's hazy. I don't remember what it was you said -- probably something fucking dumb, now that I know you -- but you were definitely laughing at your own joke and..."

"And?" Corey grinned.

"I realized I was in trouble because you we actually really handsome and nice, and there I was drunk and still kinda wanting to get laid. Like, just drunk enough to kill the part of my brain that would normally convince me not to make a move, not to look at your eyes or your smile, not to listen when you shower me with random compliments."

"I bet you remember all those compliments, though. Vain little bastard," Corey teased. 

Kent chuckled. "I don't, actually. But I remember they made me feel good about myself for the first time in a while. And I remember a lot of bottles on the table by the time the bartender told us it was closing time. We gave him a lot of money and stumbled out the door to a cab."

"That bartender had to call the cab for us, remember? Fuck, thank god we didn't have a game the next day. Had a bitch of a hangover during practice, though."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Kent chuckled. "Do you remember putting your hand on my back as we left? It started on my shoulder and then slid down between my shoulder blades and I don't know why that's what did it, but I decided then that I was going to try to make a move."

"I remember. And I remember you discreetly pressing your knee against mine in the back of the cab home, like you were testing to see how I would react."

"I was."

"I kept trying to gather up the nerve to ask you back to my hotel room, but then we got to your room in the hall and you kept walking right past it. I don't even know if you said anything, my heart was pounding so loudly I probably wouldn't have heard it."

"I was too nervous to say anything. I kept expecting you to remind me that I missed my room."

"My hands were shaking so badly I could barely get my key card in the door. And when I finally got in, I turned around to be like 'I guess this is my stop' or something and you kept walking until you had me backed up against the closet. You kissed me the second the door closed behind us."

"Part of me thought you were gonna punch me for that." Kent laughed.

"Are you kidding? It was literally my dream come true."

"You wasted like, zero time getting my shirt off."

"Again, dream come true," Corey reminded him. "And don't pretend like I was the only one -- I was completely naked except for like, one sock by the time we made it all three and a half feet to the bed. All of my clothes were over by the door the next morning and that was _all_ you, ya little horndog."

"I remember being completely overwhelmed by you. I still thought you were probably straight until the moment I kissed you and then you just... _really_ proved you weren't." Kent chuckled. "I don't think there's a inch of my body your hands or lips didn't cover that night."

"I like to be thorough," Corey said with a shrug and a mischievous glint in his eye. "Besides, I thought that might be my only chance with you. I was eager to impress."

"I was very impressed."

"Thanks, Sparky." He pulled Kent forward to straddle his lap. "Sounds like you remember quite a bit about that night, after all..."

"I guess I do... Still completely blanked the next morning when I realized I wasn't in my own room, though. I thought you were going to hate me."

"I could _never_. Why did you think I'd hate you after I was obviously so into having you in my bed?"

"Well, you had a bit of a reputation of being an aggressive dude before. Getting into fights all the time on the ice and not really participating in team building stuff. I hadn't really seen that side of you on the Aces, but I figured if ever there was a reason for an angry closeted dude to be angry about wanting to stay closeted..."

"Okay, fair."

"But how wrong I was. Instead you were just sweet and cheerful and really fucking thirsty."

Corey laughed. "Well, unlike some people it had been a while for me. I hadn't been with anyone since Atlanta, and then all of a sudden I was faced with the guy I had secretly been in love with for months being 100% on board with fucking me. I wasn't about to pass up that golden opportunity."

Kent leaned in and kissed him. "I'm glad you got in my cab that night."

"You said that already," Corey pointed out with a teasing grin.

"I know, but I'm _really_ glad you did," Kent insisted.

"Yeah? Well I'm glad you followed me into my hotel room after."

"I'm glad you didnt kick my ass the next day," Kent said, followed with another kiss.

"I'm glad you started leaving things like a toothbrush and shampoo at my apartment." Corey kissed him again. 

"I'm glad you were so cool with everything when I told you about Zimmermann and then brought you to dinner to meet him."

"We had our first big fight after that night," Corey reminded him. After hearing Jack's plan to come out after the season was over, the two men had had vastly different reactions. Kent was determined to keep what they had completely private, while Corey had been excited about the idea of coming out to loved ones, and eventually the public.

"Yeah, because I was being a major dickhead. I didn't want to admit to anybody how I actually felt about you, not even to myself. _Especially_ not to myself."

"I'm glad we didn't break up that night."

"Me too." Kent smiled and leaned forward to touch their foreheads together. There was plenty more they both could say, but it didn't need to be said. Kent was grateful for every little link in the chain of events that led them to this point. However, there was one thing he would never be tired of saying. "I love you."

"Love you too, Sparky."

**Author's Note:**

> Stay safe out there everybody!
> 
> Kent looking up the "Breakfast with Scot" movie again later: Holy shit. Do you have any idea how badly that would have gone over with me?  
> Corey: What? Why?  
> Kent: One of the dudes is named Eric. Sitting through and entire movie about a gay guy named Eric getting a happily-ever-after while I was wallowing in self-pity about seeing Jack flirting with Bittle at a party.  
> Corey: hahaha wow, yeah. Good think we just got drunk and blew each other instead.  
> Kent: Definitely... I'd be okay watching that movie NOW though...  
> Corey: I'll queue it up. Bring snacks.


End file.
